Emiliano Maggi's Ceramics Hack the Museo Bardini in Florence

The Museo Novecento Florence continues its outreach project with 'Songs and Spells', a solo exhibition by Emiliano Maggi at the Museo Bardini. Curated by Caroline Corbetta under the artistic direction of Sergio Risaliti, the show follows earlier presentations by Jenny Saville and Tony Cragg. Maggi (Rome, 1977) inserts his ceramic sculptures into the intact 19th-century collection of antiquarian Stefano Bardini, creating a jam session of forms that both completes and hacks the display. His works—featuring limbs, columns, and winged boots with faux-oxidized surfaces and bronze inserts—dialogue with the museum's eclectic mix of tapestries, plasters, and marbles. The exhibition is the culmination of a project that began in September 2022 with the performance 'Water Spell'. A separate room presents eight oil-on-linen paintings (2020–2022) that contrast with Maggi's signature glazed ceramics, offering smoky, dark landscapes from which his impossible figures emerge. The show runs at Museo Bardini, a hidden gem off the typical tourist trail.